A succubus (plural: succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman who in turn, seduces men. Succubi were claimed to visit men in their sleep causing erotic dreams and also nightmares. During the European witch hunt eras, those deemed succubi were thought to be agents of the Devil, tempting men to commit sexual sins with the offer of immortality in return. It was thought that if a succubus assaulted a man, he bore no blame for the sins committed under her influence.
In 1608 detailed in the Compendium Maleficarum, Francesco-Maria Guazzo alleged a succubus forced herself on a young man near Aberdeen, Scotland. Every night, the succubus visited him in bed, staying until dawn. The young man claimed he tried sending the succubus away but her ‘attacks’ persisted. Finally, orders by the local bishop to another place and devote himself to fasting and prayer. After several days of prayer, the succubus left him alone.
In witch hunt cases, succubi are not as common as their male counterparts, the incubi. The prevailing belief being that women were more unprincipled than men and were more likely to be promiscuous and attract the attention of incubi.
The sexual acts with a succubus were an awful experience of icy touch. In some cases, sodomy could occur when an incubus disguised as a succubus. In some beliefs, sex with succubi could produce demonic children.
In the notorios 1487 Malleus Maleficarum which was the Witch Hunt Chief Inquisitors’ book listed five ways to rid someone of a a succubus: Reciting the Ava Maria, Sacramental confession, making the sign of the cross, moving to a new home and a priest perform an excommunication of the succubus. Other cures could include reciting the Lord’s Prayer and holy water.
The succubus of the Middle Ages and earlier, were described as hideous, deformed creatures who were moved in a stooped fashion or crawled instead of walking upright. Their feet were like raptors talons, faces like gargoyles and their fingers tipped in ragged claws.
These Succubi had personalities as nasty as their appearance. They were full of trickery, controlling, and malicious. Despite an apparent need for sexual intercourse with men they had no interest in pleasing them. Sex was entirely for their own enjoyment in corrupting the pious, to take life force into themselves.
The modern Succubi are usually described as women with long (often red) hair, pearly skin, and flawless features. They use their bodies exploitively to infatuate men. They are also possessed of an intense charisma, highly seductive and very attractive. These modern succubi are clever and tantalize men with words as much as their bodies. There is a hidden darkness behind the façade of beauty: they can be vengeful if slighted but are more concerned with pride in seducing and manipulating men to their will.
Lilith
The infamous legendary seductress was Lilith and listed as the mother of all Succubi. She appears in Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Judaic, and Christian mythology.
Lilith in Sumerian culture was a goddess of fertility and witchcraft. Later, the Assyrians and Babylonians associated her with darker demons of their mythology. The ancient Greeks associated Lilith with the “lamia”. She was a beautiful woman who Hera transformed into a monster after Zeus was attracted to her beauty. After Hera had transformed her in a monster, the Lamia roamed the world seducing men.
In Judeo-Christian mythology, the legend of Lilith transformed again. Here, she is Adam’s first wife created at the same time as him. Unlike Eve, Lilith was no meek partner. She refused to honour Adam as her superior and instead, left him to explore and found hordes of demons. Lilith was rebellious too and preferred the freedom that the demons had more than her subservience to Adam. She mated with the demons and began the race of lilim who, as demons, were as seductive and independent as their Lilith. These creatures became the succubi we are familiar with today.
Cultural Representations
Female demons who use sex and seduction as a power have ling existed in many cultures. They can be found in India as the “yakshini,” Arabia as the “qarinha,” the “deer women” of some Native Americans cultures and in China as the “mogwai,” and ancient Greece as the“Lamia.”
Leanbh Pearson 